1. Organization and Functions of Congress
Regina Sanquintin
Ana Teran Octavio Suarez
Christian Torres

2. Size of Congress House of Representatives has:
-435 members (population based)
The Senate
-100 (two per state)

3. Term Lengths
House of Representatives
-Two years
The Senate
-Six years

4. House of Representatives
Qualifications
House of Representatives
Senate
at least 25 years of age.
a citizen of the United States for at least seven years prior to election.
a resident of the state he or she is chosen to represent.
no other requirements are specified in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution.
be a US citizen for at least nine years when elected to the Senate.
be at least 30 years of age.
be a resident of the state that the Senator represents.

5. Ethnicity
44 seats = African Americans (43 House, 1 Senate; 43 Dem, 1 Rep)
38 = Hispanic (34 House, 4 Senate; 27 Dem, 7 Rep)
13 = Asian Pacific American (12 Democrats in House, 1 Republican in the Senate)
2 = Native American (both Republicans in the House)
The majority of Congress is White.
Several members have different ancestral and ethnic backgrounds, in which case they are counted in both ethnic categories.

6. Gender 101 women serve in Congress 81 (House) and 20 (Senate)
62 are Democrats and 19 are Republicans
Of the 20 women in the Senate, 16 are democrats, 4 are Republican.
Out of the 541 members of Congress, 440 are male.
The House: 233 Republicans, 206 Democrats.
The Senate: 52 Democrats; 2 Independents, 46 Republicans.

7. Ideology (House)

8. Ideology (Senate)

9. Historical Changes
Congress used to be the government of the 13 colonies from
In 1832, a two party system emerges between Whigs and Jacksonians
The way we elect our senators changed. Until 1914 the state used to pick our senators after that they were chosen through direct election.
The Watergate scandals changed the relations between congress and executive branch.

10. Continued…
In 1787, the House went from having a few members to having 435 in the House and 100 in Senate.
In 1814, there was an incident during the War of 1812 between the forces of the UK, Ireland and the US. A British force led by Major General Robert Ross occupied D.C and burned many public buildings. The White House and U.S Capitol were largely destroyed.

11. Major Leadership Positions
House of Representatives
Speaker of the House- presides over proceedings on the House floor, influences which bills go to which committees, influences committee assignments for new members, appoints the party's other leaders, and rules on questions of parliamentary procedure
House Majority Leader- maintains support and agenda, plan the party's legislative program
House Majority Whip- maintains communication between members
House Republican Conference- hosts regular meetings
House Minority Leader- serves as senior official of Dem.
House Minority Whip- assists party leaders

12. Continued…
Senate
President of the Senate- Presides over the Senate occasionally
President Pro Tempore- Preside in Senate sessions
Senate Majority Leader- Lead speaker for Majority Party
Senate Minority Leader- Provides campaign
Senate Majority Whip- Mobilizes votes within party
Senate Minority Whip- Keeps the senators together and focused

13. Position
House
Senate
Speaker of the House
John Boehner (R) -
President of the Senate
Joe Biden (D)
President Pro Tempore
Patrick Leahy (D)
Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (R)
Harry Reid (D)
Majority Whip
Kevin McCarthy (R)
Dick Durbin (D)
Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (D)
Mitch McConnel (R)
Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer (D)
John Cornyn (R)

14. References
GovTrack.us Bill Prognosis Analysis. Accessed at
Manning, J. (((2013, August 05)2013, August 05)2013, August 05). Membership of the 113th congress: A profile. Retrieved from
Kelly, M. (2013). What are the Requirements to be Senator? American History.com Retrieved October 28, 2013, from uspresidents/f/senate_requirements.html
(2013). Leadership in Congress: It’s a Party Matter. U.S History.org. Retrieved October 29, 2013, from